document record
2 April 1814 · British proclamation
Cochrane’s Proclamation
Offer of reception to people leaving the United States
Cochrane announced that people willing to emigrate from the United States would be received, with choices of military service or resettlement in British possessions.
Why this record matters
It was a weapon against American slavery and a real opening through which enslaved people pursued freedom.
Follow the evidence
Evidence behind this record
- Black Freedom Seeking During the War of 1812, Part 1National Park Service · public history
Freedom seekers from the Chesapeake to Cumberland Island.
- Freedom Seekers and the Colonial MarinesNational Park Service · public history
British emancipation strategy and the Corps of Colonial Marines.